In the media

The benefits people reap from nature – or the harm they can suffer from natural disasters – can seem as obvious as an earthquake. Yet putting numbers to changes in those ecosystem services and how human well-being is affected has fallen short, until now.

A team of researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) and Chinese Academy of Sciences are advancing new modeling technology to quantify human dependence on nature, human well-being, and relationships between the two. The latest step is published in this week’s Ecosystem Health and Sustainability journal.

The environmental movement is making a difference – nudging greenhouse gas emissions down in states with strong green voices, according to a Michigan State University (MSU) study.

Social scientist Thomas Dietz and Kenneth Frank, MSU Foundation professor of sociometrics, have teamed up to find a way to tell if a state jumping on the environmental bandwagon can mitigate other human factors – population growth and economic affluence – known to hurt the environment.

As one of the most highly prized game fish in the Upper Midwest, muskellunge (also known as muskies) and northern pike help support a $20 billion sport fishing industry. Facing declines in natural reproduction, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University inland fisheries researcher, has developed a list of research and management needs to help keep the fish -- and the industry -- thriving.

Michigan State University partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome to bring 212 people from 45 countries to discuss ways to make fish a competitive part of global development, from the Great Lakes that surround Michigan to the Amazon and Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The Global Conference on Inland Fisheries is Jan.

Reclusive giant pandas fascinate the world, yet precious little is known about how they spend their time in the Chinese bamboo forests. Until now.

A team of Michigan State University (MSU) researchers who have been electronically stalking five pandas in the wild, courtesy of advanced GPS collars, have finished crunching months of data and has published some panda surprises in this month’s Journal of Mammalogy.

Vanessa Hull was honored with a prestigious award for her doctoral work, one of 12 Spartans celebrated for their global contributions Wednesday.

Hull received the Gill-Chin Lim Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Global Studies at the 25th Annual International Awards hosted by MSU International Studies and Programs, which recognize contributions for international understanding.

A study in this week’s Scientific Report by researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) and in China add more fuel to the already hot debate about whether electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly than conventional vehicles by uncovering two hidden benefits.

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About the Center

The Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability at Michigan State University integrates ecology with socioeconomics, demography and other disciplines for ecological sustainability from local, national to global scales.

Coupled Human and Natural Systems(CHANS) are integrated systems in which humans and natural components interact. CHANS research has recently emerged as an exciting and integrative field of cross-disciplinary scientific inquiry to find sustainable solutions that both benefit the environment and enable people to thrive. Visit CHANS-Net, the international network of research on coupled human and natural systems, for information and ways to engage.